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Large-Scale Farmed Animal Abuse and Neglect Law and Its LARGE-SCALE FARMED ANIMAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT:..., 4 J. Animal L. &... 4 J. Animal L. & Ethics 63 Journal of Animal Law & Ethics May, 2011 Cheryl L. Leahy 1 Copyright © 2011 by Journal of Animal Law and Ethics; Cheryl L. Leahy LARGE-SCALE FARMED ANIMAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT: LAW AND ITS ENFORCEMENT INTRODUCTION The vast majority of animals that are raised and killed in the United States (and many other countries) for their meat, milk, and eggs are raised in large-scale industrial “factory farm” conditions. 2 This paper sketches out the issue of factory farming and places it in its proper context as a social justice issue with wide-ranging implications. It then focuses on one area -- the mistreatment of animals and the cruelty and neglect inherent in industrialized animal agriculture. More specifically, the focus of this paper is to evaluate one particular tool to target the ills of factory farming: seeking enforcement of existing laws to address the abuse and neglect of animals on factory farms. There are several types of statutes that address the treatment of farmed animals but this paper will focus mostly on the use of state-level criminal animal cruelty statutes. Historically, factory farms have not been the subject of cruelty prosecutions or other legal enforcement for their mistreatment of animals. However, over the course of approximately the last decade, significant strides have been made whereby advocates have been successful in bringing forth evidence of animal abuse and neglect on factory farms that has resulted in legal enforcement. The developments in this area will be addressed in this paper. Case studies will be used to show the trend in enforcement of animal cruelty laws on behalf of factory farmed animals and how it has progressed, and the weaknesses and obstacles of the law will be highlighted. Finally, proposed changes to the law and an evaluation of the efficacy of this strategy as a technique to combat factory farming and address animal suffering will be made. *64 I. INDUSTRIALIZED FARMING AS A SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUE This factory farming system is arguably the single largest social justice issue facing our society. While this may seem like an overstatement, it is clear that factory farming conditions are of central importance in the areas of animal treatment, environmental degradation and resource consumption, and human health. 3 The magnitude of the problem will inevitably get worse if it continues on the current trajectory without due prioritization of this issue. 4 This is simply not sustainable for the environment or human health, and it results in enormous suffering for the animals. A. Animal Treatment Of all the land animals killed in the U.S., animals raised to be killed for food comprise over 98% of this number. Over 10 billion land animals alone are killed in the U.S. each year for food. 5 Well over 90% of these are raised in intensively confined and industrialized factory farming conditions. 6 From an animal advocacy perspective, this means *65 that all of the animals killed in vivisection (100 million), in hunting, trapping, and fur (34,657,000), companion animals (dogs and cats) in shelters (4 million), in entertainment (approximately 20,000), 7 and all other types of animals killed by humans do not even comprise © 2020 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 LARGE-SCALE FARMED ANIMAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT:..., 4 J. Animal L. &... 2% of the overall number. 8 For this reason alone, the factory farming issue commands priority in advocating against cruelty and killing of animals. Factory farming is highly entrenched as the system by which Americans obtain parts or products of animals for consumption. This system has its roots in the post-World War II era, whereby the post-war economy allowed people to purchase more meat per capita, the percentage of Americans who were sustenance farmers dropped, and technological advances allowed industrial means to be applied to agricultural production, including intensive confinement, mechanized treatment, and the beginnings of genetic manipulation of animals to increase their meat, egg, and milk output. 9 All of these factors contributed to the growth of the industrialization of farming and the increase in demand for animal products, which led to the entrenched industrial factory farming system that is prevalent today. The treatment of factory farmed animals causes some of the most acute suffering, causes suffering over prolonged periods of time, and is inflicted on these animals as part of the inherent nature of the system. For example, 95 - 98% of eggs come from hens raised in tiny wire “battery” cages, 10 too small for the animals to even spread their wings or lie down comfortably without touching another animal or the sides of their cages. 11 The egg industry also kills male chicks as a matter of *66 course soon after they are hatched, 12 cuts off the ends of hens' beaks without anesthetic, 13 and kills so-called “spent” hens after their approximately 24-month lifetime laying cycle 14 under conditions that are not regulated by federal humane slaughter laws. 15 Poultry killed for their meat account for about 9 billion of the 10 billion animals killed for food. 16 Chickens and turkeys raised for their meat are subject to ailments from years of genetic selection to grow at rapid speeds, including heart problems and broken bones, exacerbated by rough handling and transport, 17 and they are subject to federally unregulated slaughter practices. 18 Per capita consumption of chicken has almost tripled since 1970. 19 These animals have been bred for rapid *67 weight gain to meet this demand. 20 They reach slaughter weight-- at the young age of 6-7 weeks--in half the time it took for their counterparts 50 or 60 years ago, and that weight is two-thirds larger than it was in 1950. 21 Turkeys suffer similar fates, bred to grow so fast that they often have heart attacks and other physiological problems if not slaughtered at a young age, 22 and are also often subject to detoeing and debeaking after hatching. 23 There have also been investigations into the artificial insemination process used for turkeys, which is highly invasive. 24 The pork industry cuts the tails of piglets, punches out parts of the animals' ears, and castrates the males, all without anesthetic, 25 and confines pregnant and nursing pigs in so-called “gestation” or “farrowing” crates, respectively. These are metal crates which restrict them from even turning around. 26 Over the course of their lives, pigs can be in these crates for three-five years. 27 These crates severely restrict the naturally social and intelligent nature of these animals, and can lead to “insanity”-type behaviors such as pawing, biting, chewing the bars of their cages, etc. 28 Livestock such as cattle raised for beef and pigs are subject to long and brutal transport conditions 29 and a flawed slaughter system which often results in animals being conscious while they are being slaughtered. 30 Pigs are especially prone to severe stress and *68 overheating or freezing from long transport, 31 and investigations have shown a large degree of injury and death from these conditions. 32 Cattle raised for beef are also made to endure crowded, dirty, and unhealthy feedlot conditions before slaughter. 33 Beef cattle are also subject to dehorning, castration, and branding without painkillers. 34 Dairy cows frequently experience painful udder infections and other health problems related to constant milking and dirty, crowded conditions. 35 They may also be dehorned and/or have parts of their tails cut off without anesthetic. 36 They are sent to slaughter to be made into low-grade meat at about the age of 5, after their milk productivity declines. This practice contributes to © 2020 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 2 LARGE-SCALE FARMED ANIMAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT:..., 4 J. Animal L. &... the high numbers of “downer” dairy cows on their way to slaughter. 37 These animals are often too sick or weak to walk because of the physical toll the dairy industry puts on their bodies. The dairy industry is also the driving force behind the veal industry, because cows must regularly be impregnated to produce milk, and the calves (particularly the male calves) are not commercially valuable to the dairy industry, they are sent to be raised and slaughtered as veal calves. 38 Veal calves are severely restricted in their confinement; they are often chained by their necks in wooden stalls where they can barely move for the duration of their 16-week confinement. 39 They are also usually kept in the dark, and fed a *69 nutrient-deficient diet to keep them sick their whole lives. 40 This is done intentionally in order to keep the flesh a certain color. 41 There have been many books and articles written on the horrors of factory farming and the conditions the animals have to endure. Suffice it to say the cruelty inherent in factory farming is endemic to the industry. It is not imprudent to assert that a person eating an animal product in the United States is likely eating from an animal that suffered acutely and over a prolonged period of time. The treatment of animals in factory farms remains one of the gravest and most entrenched issues in this country when it comes to concern over animal cruelty and neglect. B. Environment 1. Resource Consumption The issue of industrialized farming is also one of the most important environmental issues facing our society. Nearly half the water consumed in the U.S. is diverted to animal agriculture, 42 and over two thirds of grain consumed is fed to farmed animals rather than to people.
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